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It is an older tool so don't expect the world from it, see the Usage tips below.
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Download
The latest versions are now on Github here: https://github.com/virusman/nwnexplorer/releases
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Finding your Installation Folder
The tool does attempt to find your installation. If it can't then direct it to the root install folder, eg it could be D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Neverwinter Nights\ like the example below. The Texture search path doesn't matter for EE since it doesn't use texture packs.
Usage
The interface is generally mouse and keyboard driven, you can drill down into individual BIF (which essentially are like hakpacks but used for default game data), HAK, and override/development and other individual files in folders (music, ambient folders etc.). The tool will categorise files it finds in general terms.
You can open a file by double clicking on it (or open it by single click in the options). Note due to how some files will crash NWN Explorer do play safe if you're only looking to export.
Useful Shortcuts
| Key Combination | Shortcut | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + S | Search | Searches from the selected location onwards. Press enter in the search box to find the next item. |
| Ctrl + E | Export | Exports the item selected (or all the items in a given container) |
| Ctrl + T | View In New Tab | Instead of overriding the current tab (using enter) opens the selected item in a new tab |
Search
Search is done, bizarrely, with CTRL + S as a little popup box in the bottom left. Press it again to search again. It doesn't support star search, but does do partial matches (eg; "_h.tga" finds everything ending in _h.tga, but "*.tga" won't find anything).
It can commonly crash when searching larger hakpacks (it goes through them last) or sometimes just in general - since it opens quickly it is recommended to just force close it if it hangs.
Export
You can export an entire BIF or Hakpack to a folder, or an individual file out, with the right click menu. There are some issues with this:
- Newer file formats the game can use may not be recognised and may not properly export
- Do not rely on the The "Export to ASCII" for MDL files, since this is known to be buggy, files only supports the 1.69 MDL format - but this is sufficient for most base game resource that don't have baked tangents/normals. You can also use Clean Models EE instead to decompile which may have better/worse results depending.
- Do not rely on it for exporting newer file formats (eg; JPG, MTR) since it may mangle the filename or extension, instead use neverwinter-nim tools.
A recommendation when exporting folders - the selector cannot create folders, so pre-create the folders you want to export to before you do so.
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Search is done, bizarrely, with CTRL + S as a little popup box in the bottom left. Press it again to search again. It doesn't support star search, but does do partial matches (eg; "_h.tga" finds everything ending in _h.tga, but "*.tga" won't find anything).
It can commonly crash when searching larger hakpacks (it goes through them last) or sometimes just in general - since it opens quickly it is recommended to just force close it if it hangs.
Viewer
You can open several game files in the viewer - these include:
- General text - 2da, nwscript scripts (NSS), ini, txt, SET, SHD, TXI,
- NWN resources:
- DLG - Dialogue files
- GUI - GUI definition files
- MDL / WOK / DWK - only the older NWN 1.69 or earlier models. NWN:EE includes new information that crashes the viewer. It has a basic 3d viewer that is also buggy, but can do in a pinch.
- NOTE: The "Export to ASCII" is buggy for 1.69 models as noted above.
- NCS / NDB - Compiled NWscript - although newer NWN:EE scripts may not load and be viewed properly
- SSF - Soundsets
- UTC, ITP, etc. - Blueprint files
- PLT - PLT textures
- General formats:
- TGA - Graphics file
- NWN DDS - specifically the weird old DDS files that are weird, modern DDS is not loaded
- DDS - Standard EE compatible DDS cannot be viewed but can be exported
- With addons:
- MP3 (WAV) - With the fmod.dll in the program directory, it can load sound and music files and play them
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There are a variety of options - many of which are outdated or don't really work.
Look in the following NWN Directory: Should be the root path of the game, eg D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Neverwinter Nights\
Texture search path options are no longer used in NWN:EE and can be ignored.
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